


A Promise of Freedom

by anuian



Series: Promises [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Keith Has Nightmares (Voltron), Lance Has Nightmares (Voltron), M/M, Not Beta Read, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rescue Missions, and help each other through nightmares, but im not gonna tell you how to live your life, go for it, i wrote this instead of studying for my exam, if you wanna read this first, im not about that life, its not just angst, keith and lance love each other very much, there is fluff, you should probably read the first one before you read this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anuian/pseuds/anuian
Summary: “They’re going to free the slaves.” Keith mutters into his shoulder, “And I wanna go with them.”Lance freezes, and he swears his heart stops, “Keith, babe, are you sure? It’s only been a few months and-”Keith pulls back, but doesn’t leave the circle of Lance’s arms, “I’m sure. I need to do this Lance, I have to do this. I can’t just sit here and do nothing while- while the others are suffering.” His eyes are wide and sincere, but Lance can also see the fear there. He knows what this will mean for Keith. To free the other slaves might give him closure. It might help him overcome the nightmares that plague him every night.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Promises [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002705
Comments: 3
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets nightmares, Keith gets nightmares, everybody gets nightmares!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should explain the timeline a little here, so this occurs about six months after Keith got rescued. Lance and Keith have been dating for about four months, so this whole story happens before Chapter 13 of "A Promise of Love" (where Lance proposes and they're all adorably cute and whatnot)

He did it, it was over. He had managed to survive, even though there were several ‘touch and go’ moments thrown in. But he was free.

Christmas Break had officially begun.

Lance threw open the front door with a zeal that would have Keith rolling his eyes and practically leapt into the house. He had a whole two weeks off work, and, aside from a few small get-togethers, he’d be able to spend some much needed quality time with his beloved boyfriend. That was the best Christmas present he could ask for.

Until he rounds the corner in the living room and sees Keith lying prone on the floor.

He barely hears the thud of his bag hitting the floor as he runs to Keith’s side, gathering him up into his arms.

“Keith? Keith love, please wake up! Keith?” 

Lance searches desperately for a pulse, for a heartbeat, for anything.

He can’t find one.

Keith isn’t breathing, there’s no pulse.

_ Keithisntbreathing _

_ Theresnopulse _

_ “No, no no no no no no-”  _ He’s sobbing and shaking and clinging to Keith as hard as he can,  _ “Nononononono” _

“LANCE!”

Lance surges upwards, blankets tangled around him, and careens right into Keith’s chest. Shaking, he presses a palm there and lets himself feel the steady beat of Keith’s heart.

“It’s okay,” Keith murmurs as Lance buries his face into Keith’s neck, pressing his nose right where his pulse is, “I’m here.”

_ It was a dream, Keith isn’t really dead, he’s here. _

Lance has no idea how long he sits there, wrapped in Keith’s arms and just listening to him breathe. It takes several moments for the dream to fade, and when it does, he realizes that Keith is unusually tense.

“Keith?” He cracks an eye open only to be met with darkness. The night is dark outside their window, not even the moon to bring some light. Did he turn on the lamp? Lance is pretty sure he wouldn’t forget. Maybe the bulb burnt out. 

“Hey,” He says, keeping his voice soft, “I’m going to turn on the bathroom light, okay?” He feels Keith nods against his shoulder, and then he’s gently disentangling himself. He has to physically restrain himself from gathering Keith into his arms again when he hears his terrified whimper as Lance pulls away. As quickly as he can, he throws open the door to the ensuite and flicks the light on, flooding the room with it’s bright glow.

His own nightmare forgotten, Lance returns to the bed and pulls Keith into his arms.

“Hey, it’s okay the lamp must have burnt out, I’ll put a new bulb in it in the morning. Maybe we can run to the store and get one of those ones that supposedly never burn out or maybe Pidge can make us something, they said that they were working on this self-sustaining energy thing and maybe it’ll work for light bulbs too and then-”

“Lance.” Keith gently pulls back from Lance’s arms, cutting off his tirade, “I’m  _ fine.”  _

“But-”

“No buts.” Keith gently places a hand on Lance’s cheek, “Lights burn out, it happens. I’m gonna have to learn to deal with it sooner or later.”

This isn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation. Lance knows how Keith feels about the light. When they’d first started sharing a room, Keith had staunchly refused to leave a light on, claiming that he just needed to ‘get over it’ but it quickly became clear that that would not be the case. Only when Keith nearly collapsed from exhaustion did he allow Lance to leave a light on during the night. He’d grudgingly admitted that it made sleep much easier, even though he still complained about it being a weakness.

“I’m not  _ afraid  _ of the dark,” Keith continues, “I just-” He sighs, running his free hand through his hair.

“Keith, it’s okay to be frightened.” Lance replies, “Like Dr. Enudi said-”

“Dr. Enudi also said that I’m not supposed to run from the things I’m scared of, and leaving a lamp on every night feels a lot like running.” Lance can tell that Keith is getting frustrated, but he also knows that it’s not directed at him. Keith is frustrated with himself for not being as  _ strong _ as he thinks he has to be.

“No.” Lance says firmly, “It isn’t. You’ve been getting better with it.” Keith opens his mouth to protest but Lance doesn’t give him a chance, “Just a few moments ago? You woke me up from a nightmare in the pitch black and held me until I calmed down again. A few months ago you wouldn’t have been able to do that. You would’ve woken up and immediately panicked.”

Keith opens his mouth, but hesitates. Lance waits patiently for him to sort out what he wants to say. Keith’s communication skills have improved vastly since their early days as Paladins, and Lance loves and appreciates that he takes time to really think about what to say.

“I…” Keith starts, “It’s different, because I knew that you were in distress and so all I could think about was you and helping you.”

Lance’s heart swells with gratitude and love for the man facing him, “It’s still progress.”

He can almost see the tension drain out of Keith’s body as he says, “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Hey Lance I’m ho- what the  _ freak _ why is it so cold in here?”

Lance pops his head around the corner and waves a mittened hand at Keith, “The heaters broken. I tried to fix it and I think I made it more broken. Hunk’s gonna be here soon.”

“Lance.” Keith levels him with an unimpressed stare.

“In my defense, I have fixed this heater before!” Keith raises an eyebrow, “I lived here alone for three years, remember?”

“And how many times have you fixed it?”

Lance grimaces and mutters a response.

Keith crosses his arms, “What was that?”

“Nothing! How was the meeting?” Lance steps forwards and sweeps Keith into his arms. He doesn’t miss how Keith slumps against him and fists his hands into the fabric of Lance’s jacket, or how Keith seems to be shaking slightly. It might be from the cold, but a hunch tells Lance that it isn’t.

“They’re going to free the slaves.” Keith mutters into his shoulder, “And I wanna go with them.”

Lance freezes, and he swears his heart stops, “Keith, babe, are you sure? It’s only been a few months and-”

Keith pulls back, but doesn’t leave the circle of Lance’s arms, “I’m sure. I need to do this Lance, I have to do this. I can’t just sit here and do nothing while- while the others are suffering.” His eyes are wide and sincere, but Lance can also see the fear there. He knows what this will mean for Keith. To free the other slaves might give him closure. It might help him overcome the nightmares that plague him every night.

“They might still be alive. The few that I knew.” Keith is saying, “We promised each other that if we ever got out, we’d try to rescue each other.”

“Keith, I don’t mean to be a downer here, but it’s been  _ months _ . How can you be sure-”

“I was sent there to die.” Keith says bluntly, and Lance sucks in a breath. He knows this. He knows that the Galra woman wanted Keith dead, but hearing Keith say it out loud, hearing him acknowledge it in this way-

Lance doesn’t like it. 

“The others were sent there to be slaves. It would be bad for business if their slaves die too quickly.” Keith’s face has twisted into something bitter, and Lance just wants to take it into his hands and kiss the scowl off it. 

“Okay,” Lance says, “Okay. When do we leave?”

The bitter scowl melts off Keith’s face and the look he gives Lance is so soft and full of love. Not for the first time Lance wonders how he ever lived without it.

“I love you so much.” He mutters, and is rewarded by Keith’s face turning a brilliant shade of red. He loves that Keith still gets flustered, and secretly he hopes that it never stops.

Keith buries his face in Lance’s shoulder again with a muttered, “I love you too.” 

“Let’s go cuddle!” Lance declares, which earns him a laugh from Keith.

“You just want me for my body heat.”

“Well duh, it’s _freezing_ in here.”

Lance is instantly awake, his body attuned to noticing when Keith  _ shifts. _ When his dreams shift into nightmares. Keith is curled around Lance, his face pressed between his shoulder blades and his hands fisting in Lance’s shirt. Lance can feel the tension in Keith’s body, and can feel the quickened pace of his breathing. Lance loves being the little spoon, but it’s difficult to comfort his nightmare-having boyfriend when he’s locked in  _ Keith’s death grip goodness gracious he’s really going to suffocate me this time.  _

With great difficulty, Lance is able to pry Keith’s hands off his shirt and roll over. Keith’s face is scrunched up in agony and Lance desperately wishes he could take the nightmares away. He wishes he could shoulder all of Keith’s pain, but he has to settle for being here for him.

“Keith, baby,” He murmurs, gently gripping his shoulders and giving him a shake, “Wake up sweetheart, it’s okay.”

Keith’s eyes fly open, but instead of sinking in relief into Lance’s arms the way he usually does, he lets out a panicked squawk and scrabbles away and over the side of the bed. Before Lance can really register what’s happening, Keith is on his feet and stumbling out of their bedroom and down the hallway.

“K- Keith!” Lance calls, he tries to get up, but ends up tangled in blankets in his haste. He wastes precious seconds untangling himself, ones where he can hear Keith stumbling down the stairs. He frees himself from the blanket with an irritated growl and clambers to his feet. Downstairs he hears the door open. His panic multiplies and he picks up the pace, skipping several stairs on his way down. It’s the middle of the night in the middle of winter and Keith is clearly panicking, Lance can’t let him get too far. His socked feet skid on the floor and he grabs the door frame to stop his sliding and pulls himself outside. The cold air slams into him, leaving him slightly breathless, and he scans the yard, looking for his boyfriend.

“Rover, turn on the porch light!” He yells and he hears the soft ding of the computer Pidge had given them as the porch light turns on.

_ There! _

Keith hadn’t made it far, he’s curled in the snow, knees pulled up to his chest and shaking. Lance has a suspicion it’s more from fear than the cold.

“Keith,” Lance approaches slowly. Keith raises his head, tears are streaming down his cheeks and he looks so small and  _ scared. _

“Hey,” Lance says softly, kneeling in front of him. He holds his hands out, but he doesn’t touch, not yet. The cold of the snow seeps through his sweatpants, but Lance hardly notices, he’s focused solely on Keith.

The nightmare must have been really bad for Keith to run like that. He hadn’t had a bad one like that in months, but Lance can still clearly remember the ones in the beginning where Keith would lash out and either fight or try to run. He’d wake up, still caught in the horrors of what he’d seen and sometimes Lance’s efforts to calm him down seemed futile. Keith would stare at him with unrecognizing eyes filled with terror. He used to recoil from Lance, as if he was scared Lance would hurt him.

He doesn’t recoil now. 

Slowly, tentatively, Keith takes Lance’s hand.

Lance gently pulls him closer, tucks Keith’s head under his chin and holds him there.

“I’m here.” He whispers, “You’re safe.”

“I couldn’t save them.” Keith sobs, “I couldn’t save them, it was too late.”

Lance runs a soothing hand up and down Keith’s back, “You said they’d been there for two years right?”

He feels Keith nod.

“And that they’re a tough bunch?”

Another nod.

“Then they’re going to be just fine.”

“What if they hurt them, a-after I escaped?” Keith’s voice is laced with fear, but he’s not shaking as much.

“They wouldn’t.” Lance says, and he desperately hopes he’s right, “We’re going to shut down the slavers, and free everyone and everything will be okay. I promise.”

Keith sniffles, but he doesn’t say anything. 

“Come on,” Lance says, pulling him gently to his feet, “It’s freezing out here, let’s go back inside.”

Keith looks at him, the porch lights casting his face in a soft golden glow. Lance is still blown away by how much love is in Keith’s eyes, just for him. Keith leans forwards and presses a soft kiss to Lance’s lips.

“Thank you.” He says, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

Krolia goes over the plan, and Lance is blown away once again by how  _ simple _ it seems. If they showed up gun ablaze, the Galra running the mine wouldn’t hesitate to blow it up without a single thought for the lives of the slaves inside. So instead of risking that, the Blade has been sneaking in operatives for the past several months, using their status as Galra to overtake the sentries and take their place. At this point, over half the sentries are Blade operatives and they’ve been slowly disarming the shock collars around the slaves necks. The plan is to sneak a few last minute people in, then start an uprising among the slaves. They can easily overtake the remaining sentries and have the slaves freed in no time.

Lance and Keith don’t really have to go, but Keith is insisting. And if Keith goes, Lance is going too. Lance will follow Keith to the ends of the universe, and he knows Keith will do the same. They’ve been dating for a relatively short amount of time, but Lance knows that this is it. He wants to spend the rest of his life by Keith’s side.

They’re loaded onto a blade ship and ready to head off into space again when Lance suggests they try to sleep. Nightmares had kept the both of them up the night before, and Lance wants Keith to be properly rested. It only takes a little bit of nudging to get Keith to stop looking over the plans (again), which is a testament to how tired he is.

“A short nap.” He says, standing. Exhaustion is written in every line of his body and Lance doesn’t like it. He can’t imagine how it must feel for Keith to willingly walk back into that place. Lance has enough reservations about it, and he was only there for a couple of hours, tops. Every time he closes his eyes he can practically see the room and Keith in laying on the ground. He can still feel what it was like to hold Keith’s limp form in his arm, the life gone from his eyes-

Lance inhales shakily, and yanks Keith into a hug. The real Keith that’s here with him right now. The  _ living  _ Keith. Keith returns the hug, sinking into his embrace. For a long moment, they just stand there, holding on to each other. When Lance has banished all thoughts of Keith dying from his mind, he pulls away.

“Okay, nap time.”

Keith chews on his lip, “I don’t know Lance, I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep.”

“You can at least rest though.” Lance replies, “We both can.” 

Keith still looks hesitant, so Lance decides it’s time to bargain. He places his hands on Keith’s shoulders and levels him with the most serious stare he can muster.

“You can be the little spoon.”

Keith snorts, and Lance has to fight to keep his face deadly serious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback time :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all this is probably the longest chapter I've ever written, but I didn't want to split it into two, so you're welcome :)

**About seven months ago...**

Keith’s body aches. He feels like he got run over by something. He tries to move, but there’s a band across his chest, restricting his movement.

His eyes fly open, but it doesn’t make much of a difference. The room is dark, so dark that he can’t see anything. He has no idea where he is, and the band across his chest seems to get tighter. He closes his eyes, forces himself to focus and take stock of the situation. His hands and legs are also restrained, and he seems to by lying on a hard flat surface. It feels cold, but he can’t tell what kind of material it’s made of. 

_ How did he get here? _

The last thing Keith remembers is being on the Galra cruiser. They’d run into that Galra woman and the room had filled with gas then… nothing.

He must’ve been captured.

Keith closes his eyes again, measuring his breaths. There’s no reason yet to panic. If experience tells him anything, the person who captured him will be there soon to gloat and threaten. He might be able to get more details about his situation then.

If not, well Krolia and the Blade will definitely notice him missing and send a team to find him. Knowing his mother, she would tear the galaxy apart just to find him.

Keith tries and fails to move. He resigns himself to being patient.

He has no idea how much time has passed. He’s been lying in the dark for an uncomfortably long time. It’s not too bad, just uncomfortable. His arms and legs have gone numb and he knows he’s going to struggle to stand again if- _ when  _ he gets free.

His head is pounding. The darkness never relents.

He thinks he sleeps. It’s hard to tell when the world is just as dark as his dreams.

He tries to guess how long he’s been here in the dark all alone. If his dehydration is anything to go by, it’s been a couple of days at least. He needs water, and he needs it _ soon. _

_ He sees Lance in his dreams. He’s staring at Keith with deep, sad eyes.  _

_ “Lance.” Keith says, and the fear seeps through. He’s going to be honest. He’s scared. He’s been locked in the dark room with no way of moving or escaping and he’s going to die of thirst. _

_ Lance doesn’t reply, he just keeps looking at Keith. Keith thinks he might be going insane. He can’t help the desperation that seeps into his tone. _

_ “Lance! I don’t know where I am, and I think I’m dying, Lance!” He grabs onto Lance’s shoulders, he needs something to hold on to, something to ground him. _

_ Lance says something, but Keith doesn’t hear it. Then Lance is brushing his hand so gently along Keith’s cheek. Keith almost cries at the touch. _

_ “I wish you didn’t have to die.” Lance says, his eyes filling with tears. _

_ “What?” Keith shakes his head, “Lance I’m not dead, I’ve been captured!”  _

_ But the dream fades and Lance is gone. _

After an eternity a door opens, spilling light into the room. Tears spring unbidden to Keith’s eyes. The light is so bright, he’s going to go blind. There’s someone there and then suddenly there’s water being forced down his throat. Keith tries to glup at it desperately, but whoever is giving it to him makes him go slowly. Still, Keith drinks until he thinks he’s going to explode. Then the person leaves and the door closes, taking the light with them.

The person with the water comes and goes over the course of what Keith could only assume is several days. He knows nothing but the dark.

Keith is awoken by someone suddenly yanking him to his feet. The room is filled with light and he can’t see a thing, and he stumbles to his knees. His legs are unsteady and his head is spinning, but before he can really register anything, he’s being hauled to his feet again. Whoever is holding him half drags him into a corridor as Keith struggles to get his feet under him. His legs are on fire, and so are his arms. He tries to flex his hands, but all he can feel is pins and needles.

His eyes are the first to adjust to the light of the corridor and he realizes that it’s a Galra hauling him around. He’s regaining feeling in his legs, but the Galra doesn’t have to know that. If he can just catch them off guard, he could definitely overtake them and then find a way to get out of wherever he is. They round another corner and Keith decides it’s now or never, but before he can make a move the Galra shoves him roughly forward and there’s another Galra clamping something around his neck.

He’s in a big… room isn’t exactly the right word. It looks like he’s in an underground cavern, and the place is swarming with other people. The Galra who clamped the thing around his neck steers him towards a group of people swinging pickaxes at the rock.

“This is your crew.” The Galra says roughly, “Get to work.”

“I- what?”

The Galra scowls and presses a button on a small remote it’s holding. Keith’s vision whites out at the pain that is suddenly coursing through his body. He convulses, hitting the floor hard and realizes that it must be coming from the thing around his neck. As quickly as it started, the pain stops, leaving Keith breathless.

“Get to work.” The Galra repeats, then it turns and stalks away.

Keith lays on the floor for several moments trying to remember how to  _ breathe.  _

_ Where was he? _

There’s a gentle and on his arm and Keith realizes that someone is speaking to him.

“-at first, but don’t worry we’ll help you get situated.”

Keith blinks at the person holding his arm, still not quite comprehending.

“Try sitting up, okay?” It’s a human, a man who looks to be in his sixties. He gently helps Keith into a sitting position and gives Keith a warm smile.

“Where am I?” Keith croaks.

The man shrugs, “No idea. We’re in an underground mine.” There’s a collar around the man's neck. Keith has a sneaking suspicion that it matches his.

“Can you try standing?” There’s another man at Keith’s other side. He’s younger, around Keith’s age.

“Tang.” The older man says, a hint of warning in his voice.

“The Galra will be back any second.” The man, Tang, says, “If he’s not up and working they’ll punish all of us.”

“I can stand.” Keith says, yanking his hand out of Tang’s grip. Unsteadily, he pushes himself to his feet. The older man steadies him and gently guides him towards the wall.

“My name is Chi.” The man says, “I’m kind of in charge of our little group. We watch out for each other, and we’ll watch out for you too.”

The other people in the group get back to work. Chi introduces Keith to them, running through their names quickly. __

Liv, Cyrus, Sila, Kassy, Daan, Nikolai. All human, all slaves. 

And it would appear that Keith is now a slave as well.

The new young man confuses Chi for several reasons. Firstly, there hasn’t been another human slave for almost two years. Secondly, he looks vaguely familiar and Chi swears he’s seen him somewhere. Thirdly, he seems to be injured or weakened in some way. 

That’s possibly the most unusual thing. The new slaves that arrive are normally in good physical condition, but the young man looks about two minutes from passing out. When lunch break arrives and the bots bring around the food, and the man eats as if he hasn’t had anything for days, Chi decides to talk with him.

“Slow down son.” Chi says, “You’ll make yourself sick.”

The young man only grunts in response, but he does slow down.

“You know my name, I believe it’s only fair that I get to know yours.” Chi can see Tang out of the corner of his eye. He’s openly staring at the young man. Chi makes a note to speak to Tang about it later. He doesn’t want the young man to feel uncomfortable.

“Keith.” The young man grunts, and the name strikes a chord somewhere. 

Chi doesn’t get much out of him for the remainder of the lunch break. Keith doesn’t seem like the most talkative person. He keeps to himself for the remainder of the day, but Chi doesn’t miss the calculating looks Keith is giving the mine. 

_ He’s trying to find an escape route.  _ Chi misses the time when he’d felt optimistic about escape. But with the collars around their necks, they couldn’t go two feet without getting electrocuted. He’s seen it happen before. Sila had tried to escape when they’d first arrived. Chi still remembers seeing her body drop lifelessly to the ground. He suppresses a shudder, and makes a mental note to speak with Keith later about the futility of escaping.

The day, just like the others, passes in a blur as they hack away at the wall. When their shift is done and their rations consumed, Chi guides Keith to the small sleeping quarters that their team shares. It’s a small room for the seven of them… well eight of them now, but they make do.

There’s just enough room for the bunks lining the walls, two on each side, and the small semi-private bathroom. It’s not much, but it’s their own private space. The slave owners don’t seem to care much what they do once they retire to their rooms at the end of the day, as long as they don’t leave. 

Tang gestures to one of the bunks.

“Sila used to sleep up top, but she’s gone now so you can have that one.” He climbs into his respective bunk as the rest of the crew takes up their spots as well. Sometimes they’ll talk for a bit before they sleep, and this is gearing up to be one of those nights.

Keith casts a weary glance at the top bunk. There’s no ladder, and the young man still looks like he’s going to fall over any moment.

“You can sleep here.” Liv gestures to the bunk below Sila’s, and before Keith can protest she’s clambered up top. 

“Thank you.” Keith says, and crawls into the bottom bunk.

“So,” Liv pokes her head over the side of her bunk in order to see Keith better, “Why are you here?”

From his spot across the room, Tang scoffs.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet _ Livvie _ ?” He spits.

Liv makes a face at Tang, and Chi has to hide his amused snort. Liv and Tang are the youngest of their group at nineteen and twenty-one respectfully, but Liv hasn’t let this place douse her spirit. She’s easily the most optimistic of them.

“Let him tell us who he is Tang.” Cyrus smacks the boy lightly across the head, “Don’t go spilling others secrets.”

Keith crosses his arms, “No, I’m curious.” He says, “Who do you think I am?”

Tang sits up straighter, “You’re Keith Kogane, the Black Paladin of Voltron.”

Tang’s declaration causes a stir across the room and it suddenly clicks why Chi thought Keith was familiar. He’d seen the Paladins of Voltron shortly after Sendak had been defeated. That had been just before he and the rest of their group was taken.

Keith nods, “Yeah.” He whispers.

“How’d you end up here?” Cyrus asks quietly, almost respectfully.

“I have a lot of enemies.” Is all Keith has a chance to say before the door is swishing open, revealing one of the many Galra sentries.

“I am here to collect Keith Kogane.” She says.

As one, the room looks at Keith, whose face has scrunched in confusion.

“Why?” He asks warily.

The Galra holds up her remote menacingly and the entire room flinches. Keith rises to his feet and follows her out.

They don’t see Keith again until the morning. When he joins them at the worksite, his eyes are glassy and unfocused, and his movements are even more fatigued than the day before. Chi tries to ask him where he went, but Keith doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t even look at him.

When they return to their room at the end of the day, Keith makes a beeline for his bunk. He clambers in, turning his back to them and almost instantly seems to fall asleep.

“What’s his deal?” Tang mutters. Wouldn’t Chi like to know.

It can’t be more than half an hour later when the same Galra sentry comes for him again.

And so the cycle begins. Keith is brought back to them at the beginning of their shift, and then taken away again once they retire to their room. With each passing day, the young man looks worse and worse. He’s rapidly losing weight, but it’s the look in his eyes that concerns Chi the most.

They’re losing hope.

Even though Keith isn’t the most talkative person in the world, he still makes an effort to get to know each one of them. He seeks out the others while they’re working and Chi sees right through him. Keith is looking for a distraction from his thoughts, from the horrors that haunt his nights. He never talks about what they do when they take him away, he always carefully steers the conversation away.

Liv in particular is enamoured by him. She had privately told Chi that Keith reminds her of her older brother, and so she naturally gravitates towards him. And Keith cares about Liv as well. Chi sees this one day when Liv accidentally stumbles backwards into a sentry. The sentry growls at her and raises his whip. Chi saw her face go white with fear. Liv had managed to avoid being whipped in the past, but the sentry is ordering her to her knees. He’s about to unfurl the whip when something slams into him from the side.

“Keith!” The cry is out of Chi’s mouth before he can contain it. Keith cries out in pain as the sentry slams the button on the remote.

The group is forced to watch as he whips Keith.

They don’t even make it to their room before Keith is taken from them that night.

Keith’s vision is hazy. He can feel the blood soaking through the back of his shirt, and he’s pretty sure the Galra had broken a couple of ribs when he’d been kicked. A sob escapes his throat before he can stop it. He’s been careful not to let the Galra here see him break. He can’t give them that satisfaction.

He hears the door open and braces himself for whatever tortures they will bring him tonight.

“Keith!” Keith freezes. He knows that voice.

“Keith, oh my gosh I found you. I found you!”

Keith can’t quite believe what he’s hearing, and then the owner of the voice comes into his view.

“Lance?” His voice breaks and he thinks he’s going to cry. Lance is  _ here _ . Lance found him.

“Yes Keith, it’s me.” Lance places a hand on Keith’s cheek, and the touch is so  _ gentle.  _ Keith tries to sip up, but Lance places a gentle hand on his shoulder and pushes him back down.

“Not so fast.” Lance murmurs.

“Why,” Keith pushes back against Lance, “We can get out of here, you can undo the restraints and we can get out.” Keith feels almost dizzy with elation. He’s going to get out, he’s going to escape!

“Ah,” Lance’s face twists in remorse and guilt, “That’s the thing Keith… we can’t get out.”

“What?” Keith whispers. Lance can’t- this can’t be true. There  _ has  _ to be a way.

“I’m just as trapped here as you are.”

Keith feels like he can’t breathe, “N- no we-” He dragged Lance into this. If they really are stuck, it’s all his fault.

“I’m so sorry Keith.” Lance’s eyes have filled with tears and a few slip out as his thumb strokes Keith’s jaw. His touch is so  _ gentle. _

“We’re going to die here Keith.”

Keith’s heart stops. Lance is going to die here. Lance is going to  _ die  _ here. Lance is going to die  _ here and it’s all Keith’s fault. _

Lance frees Keith’s hands and Keith tries again to sit up. He needs to move or else the panic will consume him, but Lance doesn’t let him, pressing hard into his shoulder.

“There’s no point. We’re just going to die here.”

_ No. _

“No,” Keith tries to sit up again and this time he’s successful, “There has to be a way out. Lance, I know we can find a way out.” They’re  _ together _ . They’re a team, they’ve gotten out of way worse situations together. They can get out of this one.

Instead of responding, Lance kisses him.

Keith is pretty sure that his brain has short-circuited and it takes several moments for him to recognize the fact that Lance is  _ kissing him. _

_ Lance _ is kissing him.

Beautiful, wonderful, amazing, brave, selfless  _ Lance _ is kissing  _ him. _

Without breaking the kiss, Lance moves so that he’s on top of the table, knees planted by Keith’s hips. Keith is almost one hundred percent certain that he’s dead. He finally died in this terrible place and now he’s having the most wonderful vision. They didn’t even take him to the dying rooms.

The dying rooms.

“Lance-” Keith gasps, pushing him away. Lance doesn’t move far though, he makes a little humming noise and begins pressing light kisses to Keith’s jawline. Keith almost loses focus, wanting to just stay here and let Lance keep kissing him but-

“The rooms where they take the dying slaves,” He gasps out, “I’ve heard there’s a hole in the roof, they can get out. If we can get-”

Lance cuts him off with another kiss, and Keith can’t help but growl in frustration. It’s unlike Lance to allow himself to get distracted when they could be escaping.

“Lance!” Keith grabs his shoulders and forcefully pushes him away, “ _ Listen!”  _

“We are not getting out of here!” Lance’s face has contorted into fierce anger, an expression that doesn’t belong, “We are  _ never  _ getting out of here.”

The realization slams into Keith with the force of a train, “You’re not Lance.” His voice is barely above a whisper.

“I can be whoever you want me to be.” Lance- the  _ thing  _ purrs. Then suddenly he is Shiro, then his mother, then Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Axca, Curtis, Kolivan and back to Lance.

“This was fun.” The thing says, hopping off the table and retying Keith’s restraints, “We should do it again sometime. You’re a pretty good kisser.” He throws Keith a wink, then prances out the door, slamming it shut and leaving Keith in the darkness once again.

And Keith breaks.

When the Galra bring Keith back the next morning, there is something off about him. He doesn’t look at any of them before grabbing a pickaxe and getting to work. They try to make conversation with him, but it’s like he doesn’t hear them. 

The Galra don’t take him away that night, and Chi wakes in the middle of the night to his quiet sobs.

_ The dreams only make things worse. Keith hates them and he wishes they would stop. Seeing Lance just makes the pain worse. Because Keith knows that he will probably never see Lance again.  _

_ The first several dreams, Lance had tried to talk to him and Keith had tried to talk back, but he could never hear him. Keith eventually gave up trying and started curling in on himself and just waiting for them to be over. Lance normally sits next to him, but he never tries to touch. They just sit together in the deafening silence. _

_ Tonight is no exception. Lance takes a seat in front of him, and on a whim Keith tries to speak. _

_ “I wish you were really here.” He mutters. Lance gives a confused look, and Keith’s shoulders slump. It was worth a try he supposes. At the feeling of a hand on his, Keith jerks back violently. This was it, the dreams were going to become a nightmare, he was going to get dragged away and hurt again. He meets Lance’s eyes and sees no malice there, no anger. There’s only concern and something soft that Keith can’t quite name.  _

_ Keith can’t help it, the tears start rolling uncontrollably down his cheeks. He couldn’t have stopped it if he tried. He’s just so tired and so alone and he wishes with all his heart that Lance was really there with him. _

_ He feels arms wrap around him, and Lance pulls him close. Keith buries his face in Lance’s shoulder and just lets himself cry. Lance is so warm, and for just a moment Keith can pretend that he’s not here, that he’s really in Lance’s arms and they are somewhere safe. Keith clings to Lance, hoping that he never has to let go. _

_ It feels  _ real.  _ It feels so  _ so  _ real. _

What if it is real?

_ The idea seems crazy, but Keith has seen plenty of crazy things. What if, for some reason, this is the real Lance? What if there was a way Keith could communicate with him? What if Lance could find him? What if this was a result of them being soulmates? Keith tries not to linger to long on that thought, preferring to push it away as he has for the past several years. _

_ He has no idea if Lance will get what he’s saying, but he has to try. He reluctantly pulls out of the hug, raises his hand- _

_ -and spells. _

Tang corners Keith during their lunch break.

“You can’t ignore us all forever.”

Keith turns to face him, and Tang is struck by the depth of his eyes. Tang has always prided himself on being able to read the emotions in others, and Keith is no exception. He’s tired, he’s in pain. He’s terrified.

“It’s easier that way.” He responds in a mumble.

“How?” Tang snaps, crossing his arms, “We can help you, we can ease your burden.”

Keith scoffs, “You really can’t.”

Tang takes a seat next to the other man, “I know.” He sighs, “We can’t stop them from taking you every night, but we can help you during the day. You don’t have to bottle it all up, you don’t have to go through it alone.” Tentatively, he places a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Tang.” Keith replies through clenched teeth, “Just let it go.”

Tang hears the unspoken words,  _ let me go. _

“I can’t.” Tang whispers. And those must be the truest words he’s ever spoken. He doesn’t know if it’s the fact that Keith is the first guy his age that Tang has associated with in almost two years, or if it’s Keith’s selflessness and strength in the face of terrible adversity, but he  _ can’t _ let him go. Tang doesn’t have a word for the feelings budding in his chest just yet, but he knows that, given time, they will only grow.

“I’m going to die, Tang.” Keith says, “They brought me here to die.”

Deep down, Tang knows this. They don’t treat any of the other slaves the way they treat Keith. Keith’s honestly lucky that he’s survived this long.

Tang has always been a straightforward person, he’s always worn his emotions on his sleeve which is what prompts him to say-

“I can’t lose you.”

Keith looks at him then, eyes wide and searching, lips parted in a silent “oh”. Then his face softens into an apologetic expression.

“Listen Tang, whatever feelings you might have for me you can’t-”

“Because you’re going to die?”

“No…” Keith sighs, “Well yes but also-”

The bell tolls signaling the end of their lunch break and Keith gets to his feet immediately, moving away from Tang. Tang tries to reach out for him, but Keith has already gone too far.

_ He’s in the dark space of his dreams again. He must have passed out. It’s a small mercy, even though he knows they won’t let him be out for long. Part of him wishes that he could stay in this dark space forever. It’s better than what the waking world gives him. _

_ Sensing a presence behind him, Keith turns and sees Lance. It’s almost embarrassing how quickly he breaks down, but he can’t find it in himself to care. He’s so alone and scared and he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be able to survive. So when he feels Lance’s arms wrap around him, he sinks into the embrace and lets himself cry.  _

_ Lance is probably the only person in the galaxy, aside from Shiro, that Keith feels comfortable enough to cry around. Lance has always been his rock, he’s always been there for Keith. His warm presence and smile is enough to light even the darkest of spaces, and it honestly wasn’t too surprising that Keith fell hard for him. Lance was like the sun, all warm and bright. He smells like the little house on the farm and Keith’s heart aches for it. He misses the time they spent together there, just the two of them. It was like they were in a little bubble where the problems of the world didn’t exist anymore, and Keith longs to go back there. _

_ After an eternity, his sobs subside, but he continues to cling to Lance. He never wants to let go. But Lance apparently has other ideas, because he gently tugs Keith away from him. Keith mourns the loss of his warmth, until he sees what Lance is doing. _

K-E-I-T-H

_ Keith’s mouth drops open, and the idea from before solidifies in his mind. This Lance is real, and now they can communicate. _

L-A-N-C-E

_ He waits for the light of understanding in Lance’s eyes before continuing. There’s half a second where he ponders what to say but then he remembers the dream so long ago. _

“I wish you didn’t have to die.”

I A-M A-L-I-V-E

Something has changed about Keith. The hopeless glint in his eyes has lessened, and he seems to have more focus in his actions. He’s still obviously weakened, and barely able to lift the pickaxe to work. The rest of the crew bands together, keeping him out of sight of the Galra sentries so they don’t punish him for not working as hard.

Chi feels a deep swell of affection in his chest when he realizes that’s what they’re doing. They may be trapped in a terrible situation on a planet far from their own, but they haven’t lost their humanity and compassion. He knows that their chances of escape are slim, and there’s a very real possibility that they’ll all die here someday, but he wouldn’t want to be stuck with anyone else.

“Chi?” He glances up as Keith addresses him, “Do you have any idea what planet we’re on?”

Chi can only shrug, “I’ve got no clue.”

“We were drugged when they took us from earth,” Liv replies and Daan nods.

“Yeah, and we woke up here.”

Keith’s brows furrow, and he chews his lip thoughtfully. He appears to be thinking very hard about something. Finally he sighs, and gestures for Chi to come closer. 

“I think,” He says, his voice in a low whisper so the others don’t hear, “That I might have a way out of here.”

Chi inhales sharply, “What?”

“I don’t want to tell everyone and get their hopes up, but I-” Keith hesitates for just a moment before plowing on, “I’ve been able to communicate with… my teammate and together we might be able to find a way out. I just need to know where we are. If I find out where, then I can tell him and he can-”

“Keith-” Chi breathes in wonder, “That’s… you really think so?” 

Keith nods eagerly, “Yes, if anyone can get us out of here, he can.” He looks so certain, and Chi thinks that his teammate must be a very wonderful person for Keith to put so much trust in him. 

“Okay, we’ll just have to figure out where we are then.” 

Keith grips Chi’s shoulder, “We’ll get out of here.” He says, his voice brimming with sincerity, “I promise.”

_ As soon as he sees Lance, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his chest. He was almost frightened that he’d never see him in these dreams again, and that he’d gotten Chi’s hopes up for nothing. But feeling Lance’s arms wrap around him and pull him in for a hug causes those fears to dissipate. He really likes being in Lance’s arms. _

_ After far too short of a time, Lance pulls away and sits. Keith follows suit. _

_ Lance opens his mouth and says something, but the words are lost on Keith. He shoots a puzzled look in response. Lance raises his hand and Keith can’t help it- _

_ He flinches.  _

_ For a moment he thinks that maybe this isn’t a dream, that he’s still awake and the shapeshifter is tormenting him again. It wouldn’t be the first time. But then Lance cautiously reaches forward with his left hand, the palm open and inviting. He doesn’t try to touch Keith, so tentatively Keith places his hand in Lance’s palm. Lance’s eyes are wide and concerned, and it looks like he’s going to cry. Keith can’t have that, so he grips Lance’s hand tightly. _

_ Slowly, Lance raises his right hand and begins spelling. _

I-M C-O-M-I-N-G F-O-R Y-O-U

_ Keith’s eyes widen and he sucks in a breath. Lance was coming, Lance was going to find him and he would be free. He wouldn’t have to die here, the other slaves could be freed too. Lance would come and he’d free them. Lance’s hand begins moving again and Keith focuses on the words he’s spelling. _

W-H-A-T H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D

_ Keith sighs deeply, then he raises his hand to respond. He doesn’t know if Lance knows more than just finger spelling, so he doesn’t try using any other signs. Based on the fact that they have to go slow and Lance asks him to repeat words here and there, Keith’s guess is no. When he gets out, he’ll teach Lance more, he decides. _

_ It takes a while, but eventually Keith has told him most of the story. He’s not too sure if Lance got the bit about him being a slave, but he supposes that can’t really be helped. _

W-H-E-R-E I-S H-E-R-E,  _ Lance asks. _

_ Keith doesn’t respond right away. Nobody knew, not even slaves on the other crews. Their best bet would have been to ask the Galra where they were, but they’d get punished for speaking to one of them. The truth is, Keith has no idea, and he currently has no way to find out. _

I D-O-N-T K-N-O-W

_ There’s a look of despair that briefly crosses Lance’s face, but then he’s put on a confident face and telling Keith that everything will be okay, that he’ll find him. But Keith knows that Lance is just as clueless as he is. The universe is a huge place. He wants to wish, he wants to hope that Lance will figure out where he is, but realistically the chances are slim. Tears begin to gather in Keith’s eyes and he looks downwards, not wanting Lance to see him cry. He has complete faith that Lance will do whatever it takes, but the odds are against them. _

_ He feels Lance’s hand on his cheek, gently wiping away some of his tears, and his breath hitches. There’s a very real possibility that he’ll never see Lance again, that the universe will cruelly keep him from the people he loves, so he says what he’s been holding back for so long. He knows Lance can’t hear him, and with his face cast downward he won’t be able to read Keith’s lips. But still he says it. _

_ “I love you.” _

Several days pass with no more dreams. Keith is having trouble keeping track of them. He’s just so tired all the time. He tries his best to keep working, he doesn’t want to be the weak link on the crew, but as time goes on he just can’t anymore. The others cover for him, and he feels a swell of gratitude for them. He could’ve been stuck with one of the other crews where it’s every man for himself, but he was lucky enough to be placed here. It’s the one good thing that’s happened to him. During the shifts, he tries his best to forget what happens overnight. Each night is different, but they all have one goal. To cause him pain.

He sees the looks that the other slaves give him. They’re a mixture of pity and anger. He knows the anger isn’t directed at him. It’s directed at the Galra and the fact that there’s nothing they can do for him. 

He’s on his knees because standing has become impossible when Tang places a hand on his shoulder. His vision is spinning, and his head hurts so bad. He can’t make his arms move anymore, they’re hanging limp and useless by his side.

“Your friend better get here soon.” He says. Keith honestly isn’t surprised that Chi told him. Tang, young as he is, is basically Chi’s second in command.

“Yeah.” Keith says, and even saying that one word takes too much energy. The floor is tilting and there’s a loud ringing in his ears that won’t go away.

“Keith!” 

Keith pitches forward and the world goes black.

_ Lance is there.  _

I-M S-O T-I-R-E-D

_ He pulls Keith into his lap, carding his fingers softly through Keith’s hair. Keith clings to him and swears he’ll never let go. _

_ Lance presses a kiss to his forehead. He thinks he might have imagined it. _

Stars.

He can see the stars.

He can’t remember the last time he saw them. It could’ve been months, or maybe even years. He’s been underground for an eternity. 

He knows where he is.

He’s going to die here. He’s going to die here with freedom staring him in the face. He’s going to die here, weak and helpless and alone.

_ No, _ he tells himself,  _ Lance is coming, Lance will find you. _

He will hold on to his life for as long as he can.

Lance will find him.

_ He doesn’t have any energy anymore. Not even in the dreams. He’s fading fast. He won’t last much longer. He chokes on a sob, because he doesn’t even have the energy to finger spell to Lance, to tell him that he’s dying. _

_ He lifts his head to look at Lance, to memorize his face one last time. The smattering of freckles across his nose, the way his hair curls softly at the ends. The beautiful blue of his eyes. _

_ “I’m dying.” He whispers, and Lance reacts. Could he hear Keith now? _

_ “I’m sorry Lance.” He closes his eyes, because he can’t look at Lance’s expression with that much pain, “I’m trying, I really am, but I don’t think I can hold on much longer.” _

_ “No, no, no, no.” Keith almost sobs at the sound of Lance’s voice. He’d missed it  _ so much _. Lance pulls Keith into his arms, and Keith laments the fact that he doesn’t have the strength to hug back. He wants to hold Lance one last time. _

_ “You’re not going to die.” Lance whispers fiercely, “I won’t let you.” _

_ Keith relishes in these last moments he gets to be in Lance’s arms. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason this ended up being so long lmao
> 
> Also, there won't be any artwork in this one like there was in "A Promise of Love" sorry! rubberducky is real busy with school at the moment and she doesn't have much time to draw
> 
> But you can show her some love on her insta: @rubberducky._ and y'all can feel free to hop over to mine too @anuian._ 
> 
> <3 <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final chapter y'all :)

The mine is just as gloomy inside as Lance remembers. The torches really don’t do enough to get rid of the lingering darkness. Instinctively, he takes Keith’s hand in his as they make their descent. The Galra working at the front of the mine had been a Blade member and had swiftly waved Keith and Lance in. Krolia, along with the several other Blades that had accompanied them had spread out, finding their posts to prepare for the riot.

Keith had taken hours to memorize the map before arrival. He had told Lance that he wanted to know where he was at all times. He didn’t want to feel lost in here again. 

“This way.” Keith mutters, swinging to the left, “This will take us to the main mine. Then we can find Chi and the others.”

Lance can tell that there’s lingering stress in Keith’s shoulders. He’s still scared that not all of them will be there, and honestly Lance is too. He has no idea what it will mean for Keith if they’re not all alive. He does know that Keith will blame himself for it. He will blame himself for not coming back sooner. 

Lance really hopes that they’re all okay.

The corridor they’re in opens into an enormous cavern filled with people. The noise in here is almost unbearably loud, the sound of machines and people chipping away at the rock with pickaxes. Keith navigates smoothly through the throngs of people and Lance easily follows. They’re careful to stay away from any sentries just in case it’s not a Blade operative. After nearly ten minutes of weaving through the cavern, Keith drops Lance’s hand and rushes to a group of people.

“Chi!” 

An older man who looks to be in his late sixties turns at the sound. His eyes grow wide and he drops his pickaxe to gather Keith into a hug.

“Keith!” 

The other people in the group quickly gather around him, obscuring him from Lance’s view. They’re all talking at once, overlapping on each other.

“You’re here!”

“We thought you died!”

“You’re alive!”

Keith pulls back from Chi and Lance can tell that he’s doing a mental headcount, glancing at each person in turn, before his face falls. Lance’s heart sinks.

“Where’s Liv?” He asks, his voice almost too quiet to be heard over the din. 

A young man, around their age steps forward, “She’s in the dying rooms.” He says, his voice quavering.

“They took her there yesterday.” Another man says, his voice laced with a thick accent.

Lance sees the fire in Keith’s eyes as he straightens. Lance’s heart swells with love for this man, and his determination to protect the people he cares about.

“We’ll have to go get her then.” He replies, “I was in those rooms for nearly three days before I-” He falters, and Lance steps forwards.

“Before we got him out.” 

“You saved him?” The young man asks, and Lance shrugs.

“His mom did most of the work, I just tagged along.”

Lance sees Keith open his mouth to protest, to tell Lance that he was a fundamental part of the rescue, but he doesn’t get that far. An explosion rocks the room, throwing Lance off his feet. Rubble rains down around him and Lance has to move quickly to avoid getting caught. He sees the young man flash him a wicked grin.

“I guess it’s time to revolt!” He cries as a second explosion rocks the room.

Keith had rolled effortlessly away from the rubble, nearly knocking Daan off his feet as he went.

“Guess that’s the signal.” Daan says, grabbing his pickaxe.

“I’ll go get Liv.” Keith says, “And meet you guys out front.’

Daan nods, and behind him Keith can see Chi and Kassy reaching for their pickaxes as well. He hopes the others are okay as well, but he doesn’t give himself time to worry. He has to get out of here and get Liv out safely.

He casts a desperate glance around for Lance. He’ll go without him if he needs to, but he’d really prefer to have his partner by his side. Fortunately he sees Lance waving him over.

“Keith!” He calls and Keith bolts to his side.

“Okay,” Keith says, stumbling as a second explosion rocks the room, “If we go back the way we came, we’ll have a straight shot to the dying rooms.”

“I’ll follow your lead.” Lance says, and Keith turns to bolt back down the way they came. Once they reach the corridor again, Keith runs to the right, deeper into the mine. 

Liv has only been in the dying rooms for one day, so there’s a high possibility that she’s still alive. There’s several reasons they stick people in the dying rooms. They get too old, they get sick, or they get too injured to keep working. Keith had been an exception. He had been placed into the dying rooms because he was literally on the verge of death. 

Two lefts and another right and they’re almost there. Keith knows that there shouldn’t be any sentries down this way, but he still clutches his blade tightly, just in case. It’s eerily quiet in this part of the mine, compared to the noise and chaos raging in the main cavern, so it’s immediately clear when Lance isn’t following him anymore.

“Lance?” Keith turns and is met with Lance’s concerned stare.

“Sorry,” He says, “I just… I’m nervous.”

In two steps, Keith has Lance pulled into a hug. He should’ve known that going to the dying rooms would be hard on Lance. That’s what the majority of his nightmares are about, and Keith can’t imagine how traumatizing it must have been to have to look through all the rooms until he found Keith. Only to find out he was too late.

“I can go on alone,” He says, “If you don’t think you can handle going back there.”

“Can you?” Lance mutters, one of his hands gently brushing along Keith’s neck.

Keith opens his mouth to answer but his words are stopped by the press of cold metal on his neck and a sharp click. Lance forcefully steps out of the embrace as Keith’s hands fly to his neck.

The collar. Lance put the collar back on him.

Lance is…

...not Lance.

He can’t breathe.

“Let’s finish this, shall we?” The shape-shifter says, shooting him a cocky smirk. 

Lance is panicking. After the second explosion he hadn’t been able to find Keith anywhere. It was only after the human with the thick accent asked him why he’d come back that Lance realized what had happened. 

The shape-shifter had left with Keith.

Lance races through the corridors, silently thanking Keith for making him memorize the map. He desperately hopes that they’d headed in the direction of the dying rooms, or else he’d have no idea where to look. He couldn’t let Keith get captured again, he couldn’t lose him again. He  _ couldn’t.  _

And then Lance hears it. It is a cry that is unmistakably Keith’s.

And unmistakably in pain.

He sprints as fast as he can, grabbing the wall to swing himself around the corner faster. They’re about halfway down the hallway, the shifter is still wearing his face and towering menacingly over Keith.

“They were not pleased when you got away.” The shifter is saying, “Blamed me for it. But I’ll have my revenge.”

Lance raises his blaster, aiming for the shifter’s back. It’s a killing shot, but he honestly couldn’t care less. He takes a moment to line everything up, and he’s about to pull the trigger when the shifter moves faster than he ever thought possible.

“ _ Tsk tsk _ ,” The shifter says. It’s holding Keith in one arm, and using the other to press a small pistol to Keith’s temple.

“Take one more step, and I’ll blow his brains out.” 

Lance clenches his jaw, but he doesn’t move. He’s a good enough shot that he could still hit the shifter, but it would kill Keith before Lance’s shot could hit.

“Now lower the gun.” The shifter says. It speaks as if it’s talking to a small child.

Lance meets Keith’s eyes, and slowly lowers the gun. 

“Good.” The shifter says, and Lance almost raises the gun again at the condescending tone of voice, “Now put it on the ground and kick it over here.”

Glowering, Lance complies. He never thought he’d hate looking at himself so much, seeing the shifter wear his own face causes Lance’s inside to boil with rage.

“So obedient,” The shifter says, tightening it’s hold on Keith. Lance notices that there’s a metal collar clamped around his neck, the same one that the salve all had. No wonder Keith isn’t trying harder to fight back. He’s in just as rough a spot as Lance.

The shifter lowers the pistol for a brief moment in order to toss an object to Lance. It thuds on the ground in front of him, and he realizes that they’re handcuffs.

“Do us all a favour and cuff yourself to that pillar over there.” The shifter says, returning the pistol to Keith’s temple. Lance just stares incredulously. Seriously? This low-life  _ scum  _ expected him to cuff  _ himself _ to a pillar? 

“Now.” The shifter growls, placing a finger on the trigger.

They’re in a bind. If Keith tries to fight back, the shifter will electrocute him with the collar. If Lance tries to fight back, the shifter will kill Keith. Lance doesn’t exactly trust that his strange Altean powers will work twice in bringing Keith back. He has a feeling it was more of a one-time thing. And so, glowering at the shifter the entire time, Lance picks up the cuffs and walks over to the pillar. Before he cuffs himself, he reaches up to his ear, making it look like he’s scratching it. He quickly presses the button of the comm in his ear, before lowering his hand and activating the cuffs.

He has an unpleasant flashback of being cuffed to a tree by Nyma. At least then, his and Keith’s lives hadn’t really been at stake.

“Now what are you planning to do, now that you’ve captured Keith and have me trapped?” He says, and he almost slumps in relief when he hears a number of Blades reply.

The shifter raises an eyebrow, finally  _ finally  _ dropping the pistol from Keith’s temple. 

“This.” It says, and it hits a button on a cuff around it’s wrist. 

Keith’s answering cry of pain brings tears to Lance’s eyes as he watches his boyfriend slump to the ground. He can see the white bolts of electricity arcing through Keith’s body and he writhes in pain. The shifter grins maliciously for several moments before hitting the button again. Keith’s body goes limp, his head lolling to the side. Lance panics for a moment before he sees Keith’s chest rise and fall. He’s not dead, just unconscious.

There’s Blade chatter in his ear, but Lance doesn’t dare reply.

“Any moment now, the Galra are going to blow this sector of the mine into smithereens.” The shifter says, stepping over Keith’s prone body, “And when they do, I will be happily on my way out the mine with him and a lovely story concocted about how I rescued him from the evil shape-shifter. He will wake, and he’ll be none the wiser about where the  _ real _ Lance is.”

“He’ll know it isn’t me.” Lance growls.

“Oh really?” The shifter says, “Because I’ve fooled him twice now, I think I can do it again. You’re really not that hard to pretend to be. All I have to do is be all mushy and romantic with him and he’ll never suspect a thing.”

Lance snorts. Keith knows him better than he knows himself. He’d never fall for it.

But of course, by then it’ll be too late. Lance just has to hope the Blade will get here in time.

“Oh I think he will. And who knows, maybe I’ll decide to live out the rest of my life with him.” The shifter adopts a sly smirk, “If he’s as good in bed as he is at kissing then I guess he’s worth keeping around.” 

If Lance’s hands weren’t cuffed he would’ve throttled the shifter. He resorts to trying to kick it. The shifter easily dodges his attempt and places a hand on Lance’s shoulder, it’s eyes going white. Lance lets out a small cry as a sharp pain trills through his head. It feels almost as if someone is poking his brain with a white hot knife.

“Cool trick huh?” The shifter says, removing its hand from Lance’s shoulder, “Now I can  _ really  _ play a convincing version of you.”

“What did you-” Lance gasps, still reeling from the hot knife sensation.

“I just took a stroll through your memories, all the parts that make you… well  _ you.” _

Lance’s stomach drops in fear. If this shifter has his memories, it can become him and Keith might not ever know the difference. But Keith would know, wouldn’t he? At the very least, he should feel the intense pain again when Lance eventually died down here. Then he would know that his soulmate was dead. If it even works that way anymore. Lance had already died once, would Keith know it if he died again?

The shifters smile is nothing short of evil when it says, “You love him  _ so much _ don’t you? I might come to love him too, one day. Or maybe not, maybe I’ll break up with him and leave him in the dust. He’s too strong willed for my tastes although that could make things interesting when we-”

The shifter’s eyes go wide as a shot rings out through the room. Lance follows it’s gaze to it’s chest, where blue blood is soaking through it’s shirt at an alarming rate. It stumbles backwards and falls to the floor, finally shifting out of Lance’s body and back into what he can only assume is its natural form. A strange reptilian-like creature.

Lance looks up and locks eyes with Keith, who is on his knees and holding Lance’s still-smoking blaster.

For a moment, all is silent save for the shifter gurgling out its last breaths.

“Lance!” Krolia’s voice registers through his comms, followed shortly by Kolivan.

“Status update.” He barks.

“We’re okay.” Lance replies, as Keith shakily gets to his feet, “The shifter had us for a second there, but it's been… ah… neutralized.” 

“Alright, well get out of there as soon as possible.” Krolia responds, “That sector is about to blow.”

“No can do.” Keith’s voice comes through on the comms as he reaches Lance and begins fiddling with the cuffs. His hands are shaking badly.

“We have to get to the dying rooms.” He continues.

“Already on it.” Kolivan replies, “We’re extracting prisoners as we speak.”

“Liv?” Keith says, panic colouring his voice, “A blonde human, would be around Pidge’s age.”

“Yes, we’ve got her.” Krolia replies. The handcuffs finally snap free and Lance wastes no time in pulling Keith in close.

“Noted. We’re on our way out.” Lance says, then he turns off his comm. Keith does the same.

“Are you okay?” Keith asks, his voice small.

“Yes, are you? It looked like the shifter hit you pretty hard.”

Keith grimaces, “I have a higher pain threshold than it thought. I played it up though, made it seem like I was out.”

Lance can’t help it. He kisses Keith, hard. Keith responds in kind. It’s not the best kiss, messy and uncoordinated, but Lance doesn’t care because Keith is alive, and he’s alive and they’re going to make it out okay.

They don’t linger, heeding Krolia and Kolivan’s warning. So hand in hand they run back to where they came from.

They don’t make it before the explosions.

There’s an awful ringing in his ears, and Lance feels like his head is going to split open. Groaning, he opens his eyes, only to be met with darkness. He can taste blood and soot in his mouth, and he feels the soot coating his throat making it difficult to breathe. He tries to sit up, but his head slams into something hard. 

_ Don’t panic _ . He tells himself,  _ assess the situation and don’t panic. _

He gently tries to move other parts of his body and finds that there is a slab of rock roughly ten inches above him. He’s on his back, and his left wrist is pinned under more rock. There’s a shooting pain when he tries to move it, so Lance fears it might be broken. On his right side, he can feel Keith’s body pressed in close to his own. From what he can tell, Keith is on his stomach, and he’s still out cold. Lance can feel his breath puffing against his neck, the steadiness of it easing Lance’s anxiety. 

“Keith?” He whispers. He tries to move his right arm, but it’s pinned under Keith.

“Babe, I need you to wake up.” He says, louder this time. He shakes his pinned arm, jostling Keith, and heaves a sigh of relief when Keith groans in response. It takes several moments for him to wake, but when he does, his body goes taut and his breathing stops.

Of course, it’s pitch black.

“Keith,” Lance says, and Keith inhales sharply, “It’s me okay, it’s Lance.” But his words seem to have no effect. Keith is taking several short, quick breaths, his chest heaving up and down.

Lance closes his eyes and concentrates as hard as he can. He’s never been very successful in making his Altean marks glow on demand, but he hopes beyond hope that they will work this time. He sends a prayer to Allura for her help. After what seems like an eternity, he feels the telltale tingle in his cheeks.

He snaps his eyes open to see that their small space is bathed in a soft blue glow. Keith’s face is scrunched up and his eyes are tightly closed.

“Keith, love, look at me.” Lance says, “Please.”

Slowly, Keith peels his eyes open and stares in fascination at the glowing marks on Lance’s cheeks.

“Lance.” He whispers, and his voice sounds so small and so broken.

“Hey.” Lance whispers back, “My arm is pinned kinda awkwardly could you-?”

“Huh? Oh… oh yeah.” Keith raises his body, but Lance doesn’t pull it free. Instead he stretches it out and pulls Keith closer by the waist. Keith’s left arm wraps around Lance’s waist as well. They’re close enough now that Lance can bump their noses together gently.

“Are you okay? Anything injured?” Lance asks.

“I don’t think so. You?”

“My left wrist is pinned, but other than that I’m okay.”

Keith breathes a sigh of relief, “Good.”

They’re both silent for a moment, then Keith releases Lance’s waist and brings his hand up to his ear.

“Hello?” He says, “Krolia? Kolivan? Anyone?” He pauses, and then drops his hand with a frustrated grunt, “Nothing but static.”

“It’ll be okay,” Lance says to reassure himself just as much as Keith, “They know that we were down here, they’ll find us.”

Keith sighs again, his breath gently fanning across Lance’s face. Lance presses a soft kiss to his nose.

“Shoulda brought Kosmo huh?” That earns him a chuckle.

“Seems like every time I don’t bring Kosmo, the mission ends in disaster. First I get captured and sold into slavery, and now we’re buried under who  _ knows _ how much rubble.”

“Lesson learned. Take Kosmo everywhere.” 

“How much air do you think we’ll get down here?” Keith mutters. Lance stills. He hadn’t thought about that, but now the idea causes his heart to race. What if the Blade doesn’t find him and Keith in time and they both suffocate in the dark and buried under rubble? What if one of them dies first and the other has to live their last moments in excruciating pain before also suffocating? 

“Hey, hey Lance, sweetheart.” Keith places a hand on his cheek, thumb brushing slightly over the glowing mark there, “Don’t panic, it’ll be fine. Like you said, they know that we’re down here. Now breathe with me okay.”

Lance takes several moments and matches his breathing to Keiths. Slow and steady. In and out.

“If one of us dies-” Keith makes a noise of protest, but Lance cuts him off, “If one of us dies, do you think we’ll feel the pain again? Or not since we’ve both already died?”

Keith shrugs as best he can in their cramped position, “I’m pretty sure us dying didn’t stop us from being soulmates… so maybe?”

“Well that kinda sucks, not gonna lie.” Lance replies, “Like unless we both die at the exact same time, one of us is maybe gonna have to go through that again. Which, by the way, is the  _ worst _ way to find out who your soulmate is. How come nobody’s mentioned it before back on earth? You’d think people would talk about it more if they felt that much pain when their soulmate died.”

Keith squints at him in the semi-darkness, “Haven’t I explained the whole soulmate thing to you before?”

“Um… not really? Like aside from the fact that you knew that we were soulmates for literal  _ years?” _

“Huh.” Keith says, “I swear I explained it to you.”

“Explained what?”

“Finding out who your soulmate is is different for every species. Humans have absolutely no indicators and no way of knowing. That’s why it doesn’t matter if soulmates never end up together. It’s the Galra that experience the pain when their soulmate dies. So I guess since you're lucky enough to have a Galra soulmate, you get to experience it too.”

“Oh.” Lance says, “That clears a lot of things up actually… so, do Alteans have indicators?”

“I think it’s something to do with their marks?” Keith shrugs again and then continues softly, almost reverently, “And I think Lotor was Allura’s soulmate.”

Lance’s heart aches. He knew how much Allura had loved Lotor, and how heartbroken she’d been when he’d betrayed them all.

“If things had been different.” He murmured.

“I like to think she kicked his butt and he grovelled for her forgiveness in the afterlife.” Keith says.

“Oh yes, she would absolutely do that. No questions asked.” Lance replies, “But I also hope that she accepted his grovelling, and finally settled down. She deserves some peace and quiet.”

“She really does.”

They lapse into silence, and Lance tries desperately not to think about their precarious situation. His relationship with Keith is still so new, and he is still so terrified of losing Keith. Not because he thinks Keith will ever leave him, no, Keith has made it  _ abundantly  _ clear that he will never leave Lance. He’s scared of losing Keith to death. He’s scared that Keith will run off on a mission one day and just never come back. When Acxa had come to Altea and told everyone that Keith had died, Lance’s soul had shattered. He’d been broken beyond repair, and that was before he’d known what it was like to be with Keith. To really love Keith.

Back then he’d had a chance, however minuscule it was, to recover someday. 

If he’d lost Keith now, he’d lose himself too. 

The thought scares him.

“You’re thinking too loud.” Keith says.

“I wanna marry you.” Lance blurts. He’s pressed so close to Keith that he can feel the other man’s body go completely still. Keith’s eyes are wide and glossy in the blue glow from Lance’s marks. Lance refuses to let himself get flustered.

“I know it’s super crazy and that we’ve only been together for four months, but  _ Keith _ , I’ve loved you for  _ years _ and I’m never going to stop loving you, and so naturally… I just… kinda assumed someday… we’d get… married.” He fizzles out awkwardly as Keith continues to stare. Lance realizes with a start that there are tears gathering in his eyes.

“I wanna marry you too.” Keith whispers, “Not now, I don’t think I’m ready for that now, but someday. I want to marry you.”

Lance can’t help the grin that takes over his face. There’s a gentle dusting of soot on Keith’s cheeks, and his hair is plastered with blood and sweat, but in this moment he’s the most beautiful thing Lance has ever seen.

“So does that mean I get to call you my fiancé?” Lance says, rubbing their noses together gently.

“Nuh uh.” Keith replies, “I want to propose, and it’s going to be the best proposal ever.”

“Not if I beat you to it.”

Keith narrows his eyes, “You’re on.”

Lance leans as much as he can, and Keith meets him halfway for a kiss. In their trapped position, it’s somewhat awkward, but Lance cherishes it anyways. Every kiss with Keith is something special and to be revered.

“We’ll have to decide on a last name.” He says, “Keith McClain-Kogane doesn’t sound too bad.”

Keith’s smile is fond, “No it doesn’t, but something tells me we’ll choose Kogane-McClain.”

Lance purses his lips, “Is that cause of the space whale vision?” When Keith doesn’t reply Lance resorts to whining, “Keeeeeeeeeith come on! You had an epic vision of us in the future and you won’t tell me anything about it. If you really loved me you’d tell me.”

Keith only laughs in response.

They pass their time talking about everything and nothing, and sharing more than a few kisses. There’s not much they can do except wait to be found, and Lance finds that he needs a distraction or else his mind will start coming up with the worst case scenarios. It must be hours later when they hear rock moving above them, and they both start shouting.

Within the next hour they’re freed and on the ship, officially leaving the colony behind for good. 

Keith had expected Tang to come and find him, he just didn’t think it would happen so soon. He’s sitting in the medbay, waiting for Lance to come out of the pod. His wrist had been broken, and so the Blade doctor onboard suggested he hop into a pod for a couple of hours. Liv is also in a pod, and the former human slaves had been in and out to visit her. But Tang seems to have come here solely to see Keith.

“Hey.” He says, sitting down next to Keith.

“Hi.”

“I hope your friend is okay.” Tang replies. Keith doesn’t know if it’s just him, but there seems to be an air of awkwardness over this whole encounter. Tang had all but confessed having feelings for Keith. Feelings that Keith definitely did not reciprocate. Keith figured he might as well rip the bandaid off.

“Boyfriend, actually. And yeah, the doctors said he’ll be fine.” Keith keeps his gaze glued on Lance, not wanting to see the expression on Tang’s face. 

“Oh.” Tang replies, “That’s new?”

“Yeah,” Keith says, feeling his face go soft, “It is.”

Tang places a light hand on his shoulder, “I’m happy for you.” He replies.

“I’m so-”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” Tang cuts him off with a sharp glare, “You’re in what I presume is a happy and loving relationship. You don’t need to apologize for that. Besides, it was just a crush. When we get back to Earth I’ll find another awesome guy and sweep him off his feet.”

Keith chuckles lightly, “I’m sure you will.”

“Thank you.” Tang says, “For coming back for us.”

“I couldn’t just leave you guys there. You and the rest of the group are the only reason I didn’t lose my mind.” Keith says, “You deserve to be free, to live out the rest of your lives at home on Earth.”

There are tears in Tang’s eyes when he says, “And thanks to you, and your boyfriend, we will.”

Christmas with the McClain’s has always been a large and loud event, but in the years since the war it has become moreso.

The house is packed to the rafters with people, so much so that Veronica and Acxa had asked if they could stay with Keith and Lance in the guest house. It wasn’t really a guest house anymore, Lance’s parents had all but given it to him, although Lance still insisted on paying at least a little bit of rent. 

In addition to the five McClain children and their significant others (and in Luis and Lisa’s case, children), Hunk had come with Shay, the entire Holt family made an appearance, Krolia had managed to make it just in the nick of time, Coran and Romelle had arrived from Altea, and of course the newlywed Shiro and Curtis were happily enjoying their first Christmas together as husbands.

To say it was slightly overwhelming would be an understatement. 

But Lance wouldn’t have it any other way. As the friends and family gather together in the living room on Christmas Eve, Lance can’t help the swell of gratitude he feels. During his time with Voltron, he had often felt so lonely, missing his family with an ache that couldn’t be soothed. But now here he was, years later, with more family than he could’ve ever hoped for. And not only that, he has Keith by his side, his face bright with happiness and laughter. 

He presses his nose gently into Keith’s hair, “I love you.” He says.

Keith turns to face him, cupping Lance’s cheek in one of his hands, “I love you too.” He says, voice quiet amidst the chatter of the room, “I love you  _ so much _ .”

Lance presses a soft kiss to Keith’s lips, pulling away quickly before Pidge can see and torment him about it. They’re really quite merciless.

“Do you want to know what my vision on the space whale was about?” Keith says, eyes sparkling in the light of the Christmas tree.

“Yes!” Lance breathes in wonder, “Yes I do.”

“Family.” Keith responds, “You and me… and our children.”

Lance doesn’t think he’s breathing anymore, “Our children?” He can’t help but stare at Keith in awe.

Keith nods, “Two of them, Addison and Timmy.”

“Addison and Timmy.” Lance responds, and the smile Keith gives him is the most beautiful thing in the universe. There are definitely some tears in his eyes when he says, “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Me too.”

“Oi! Quit being gross and come play some games!”

Lance flips Pidge off as he yanks Keith in for another kiss amid a chorus of cheers and groans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> annnnd this is it for the little sequel! I honestly didn't plan for it to get this long, but it kind of got away from me. I hope y'all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
> 
> As for the one I mentioned about Klance's kids and their adventures... that probably won't happen for a good long while. I do want to write it, but I am diligently working on the Royal AU at the moment which I hope to begin posting sometime before Christmas :)
> 
> <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> This was only supposed to be like 5,000 words....
> 
> oh well


End file.
